Blog Archives

One of baseball’s brightest young pitchers, Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins, perished Sunday morning in a boating accident. He was born in 1992. This is a sober reminder that death does not discriminate; death does not care how young or old or rich or poor you are. Make sure you are where you need to be.

Find a local church of Christ in your area. Call them. Ask them to study with you, so that you can learn what you need to do to have a right relationship with God. If you cannot find a local church of Christ, e-mail me and I will try to put you in contact with someone in your area. If I can’t find someone, I’ll study with you on-line via e-mail or Facebook or Twitter.

Think about your soul right now, today. Don’t wait until it is eternally too late.

Johnny Cueto was traded to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. Cueto, the best pitcher the Reds have had since Mario Soto, will rejoin former Reds teammate Edinson Volquez in the Royals’ starting rotation as they attempt to capture a World Series Championship.

I have just taken a new part-time job, which is a very good thing. I will still have time to read and draw and obsess over baseball cards and hair metal, but will be doing so to a lesser extent because of my new position. So the posts may be a little less frequent here.

Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, star pitcher for the 1988 alternative reality Cleveland Indians in the Major League universe. This is the first non-Reds card I’ve drawn in several years, and I think the first fictional baseball player I have ever attempted. I’m kind of stuck on 1938 Goudey right now.

Todd Frazier might be my favorite active third baseman, but he has quite a bit of catching up to do if he wants to replace Chris Sabo at the top of my favorites list. In 1988, when I was in sixth grade, I interviewed Sabo (via telephone) for a school homework assignment. Mrs. Gracey wanted us to write about someone we admired, and most of the other kids chose their dads or grandpas. And it’s not that I don’t love my dad, I do! He instilled in me a love for baseball that, though it has waned from time to time, I still cherish. But I wanted to be different from the other kids, so I called the Reds’ general offices after school and asked to speak to the rookie third baseman.

The operator was very kind, took my name and number and the reason for my call. I hung up the phone and headed out back to shoot some hoops. Not much later, my mom started rapping on the kitchen window, motioning for me to come inside for a telephone call. I came in, and Chris Sabo was on the other end.

I asked him about his favorite team growing up (the Tigers), his favorite player (Al Kaline), and what kind of car he drove (Ford Escort). He was extremely polite, very humble, and even left two tickets for a game a couple of weeks out for my dad and I. We got to sit in the “blue seats” (the good seats back then) with other players’ wives and girlfriends. That was pretty cool.

So, Mr. Frazier, though I will vote for you every year for the All-Star Game, and I will call you my favorite current third baseman, unless you come over for dinner and drop a couple of All-Star tickets off, Mr. Sabo will remain at the top of my list.

Stellar pitching performance last night by Reds ace Johnny Cueto. Cueto has struck out 38 batters and walked only five in five starts. His ERA actually went up to 1.95 after allowing two Brewers to cross the plate, but the offense was awake enough to score more and get #47 the victory.